


May I Steal Your Heart?

by Lilly2177



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Marichat, Reveal, adrienette - Freeform, lucky charm zine, phantom thief vs detective au, this turned out way fluffier than I intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27006970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilly2177/pseuds/Lilly2177
Summary: Marinette isn't having much luck with catching the mysterious phantom thief who's been stealing from the Agreste's, until she notices a clue hidden in his calling cards. But why would Chat Noir be leaving her hints as to who he is?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 14
Kudos: 104





	May I Steal Your Heart?

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooo  
> Here is my piece from the Lucky Charm Zine! You can check out the rest of the zine on tumblr, it's full of amazing fics and art!  
> Enjoy ♡

It was a bright sunny day, and Chat Noir had just stolen another Agreste family treasure, and Marinette was _ over it _ . She had been hired to catch the mysterious phantom thief who seemed to only target them, but she really wasn’t having much luck. 

The problem with it being the  _ Agrestes _ being the ones stolen from was the amount of possible suspects. So many people could have motives for stealing the family’s treasures that Chat Noir could be almost  _ anyone _ . She had, of course, already investigated anyone who could have a grudge against the Agrestes, but had come out empty handed.

The only thing she had in the way of clues was the calling cards he left at each scene, but even those didn’t give her much to work with. At least, not enough for any solid leads. His latest calling card had said that when night fell on the fourteenth day from that day, the treasure that would be taken would be something more precious than anything he’d stolen before, which really didn’t narrow anything down.

The only good point about the case was working with Adrien, who was nicer and more genuine than she expected the son of Gabriel Agreste to be. She’d thought he’d be a pretentious brat, but that wasn’t the case at all. He’d been most helpful in aiding her investigations and was always willing to answer her questions, and over the short time that she had been working on the case, the two of them had become friends. 

She was currently on her way to meet up with him to discuss the case at a nearby cafe . He was already there when she arrived and greeted her with a bright smile that made her heart jump in her chest. 

“Hey, Marinette! How’s everything going?”

“For the case? Not good,” she sighed, dropping down into the chair across from him. “Though you probably already knew that seeing as Chat Noir struck again last night. And I’m no closer to solving it. Is your father too busy to talk again?”

“Yeah,” his smile drooped momentarily before he perked up again. “But if you have any questions, you can ask me.”

“Thanks. This is the latest card that was left,” she said, sliding it across the table to him. “It’s a bit odd that he told us  _ when  _ he would show up next, but hopefully it’ll work in our favour. I don’t know what he’s planning this time.” 

“Something more precious than anything else he’s stolen?” he tilted his head. “I wonder what that will be.”

“I was hoping you might be able to tell me.” 

Adrien looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, none of our treasures are that important to  _ me _ , but there are a few things my father might consider really precious? I can make a list of them if that would help,” he suggested. 

“It’s a good start.” she said, giving him a relieved smile. “So far there hasn't been any connections between the items being taken, but perhaps there’ll be something on the list I can work with.”

He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a few things down. Marinette raised an eyebrow as he signed his name at the end of the list. He wrote his A’s oddly, all slanted to the left and unnecessarily flourished. Though why he'd sign a  _ list _ , she didn't know.

“Well, I have to get going, but thank you for this.” Marinette tucked the list into her pocket. 

Adrien beamed at her. “I’m always glad to help.” 

“Sorry I don’t have any leads for the case yet,” she said, blowing out a discouraged sigh as they both stood to leave. 

“Hey,” he nudged her shoulder gently with his own and smiled at her. ”I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re the best detective around.”

She gave a little laugh at that. “The best detective huh? Right now, I’m not so sure of that, but thank you for your confidence in me.”

  
  


—

Marinette sat at her desk, shuffling Chat Noir’s cards absently as she went over her notes on the case. There really wasn’t much. She sighed and dropped the cards, resting her forehead in her hands. The two weeks had gone past and she still wasn’t any closer to solving the case. She didn’t know who Chat Noir was, didn’t know why the Agrestes were the only ones being targeted by him, or how he kept managing to do so without getting caught or leaving a single trace except for one card. One measly card, that added up to six cards, which added up to… nothing. They were no help at all. If anything, they just served as reminders of how much she  _ didn’t know _ .

Chat Noir was good at what he did, she’d give him that. She just wished he was a little  _ less  _ good, or perhaps that Gabriel Agreste would take the case a little more seriously. In the one brief conversation she’d managed to have with him, he’d insisted that he had ample security to protect their treasures and that having her there as well was  _ completely  _ unnecessary. Chat Noir was gonna strike that night. She’d told him that. This was the first time they  _ knew  _ when he was going to steal from them, if she could at least be nearby, she might be able to gather more clues or maybe even catch him before he managed to steal anything else. 

He had simply brushed her off, saying that perhaps she should’ve already solved the case and stopped Chat Noir by then. But how was she supposed to stop Chat Noir if Gabriel Agreste wouldn't cooperate with her? He didn't even seem to  _ care  _ that his things were getting stolen. If anything, he was only getting more money back for each stolen valuable.

Marinette swiped at the cards on her desk angrily. One of them fluttered to the floor and she bent to pick it up, then froze.  _ Wait a minute _ .

There was an  _ A  _ on the card. 

A distinctive  _ A  _ she’d only seen written like that once before. 

It was barely visible among all the chaotic lines that covered most of the card, but it was definitely there, slanted to the left and overly flourished. Without even realising it, Marinette was turning the other cards around and finding letters on those ones too.

She put them in order and almost fell off her chair. Because there, worked into the designs between the cards, was Adrien’s signature. Why would  _ Adrien’s  _ signature be on the cards that  _ Chat Noir _ left behind when he stole from the Agrestes…

Of course. 

She probably should’ve connected the dots earlier. The reason that Chat Noir was so good at stealing from the Agrestes was because he  _ was  _ an Agreste. He never got caught because they didn't want him to get caught. 

Forget whatever Gabriel Agreste said, that night she  _ was  _ going to be there when Chat Noir showed up.

—

As soon as the last streaks of light had faded from the sky, Marinette headed out for the Agreste mansion, dodging puddles from the rainfall earlier in the afternoon. She wasn’t sure how she’d get in if Gabriel didn’t want her there. But if she was right about Chat Noir, there’d be a way for her to slip in unnoticed. 

Sure enough, when she reached the wall surrounding the property and circled it, something caught on a tree caught her eye. Upon closer observation, she could see it was a pamphlet from the cafe she had met Adrien in the last time they talked, tucked so it would look like the wind had blown it in there and gotten it stuck. Clever. When she turned around and shifted the ivy out of the way she found a secret entrance. She almost rolled her eyes at that. Of course the Agrestes would have a secret entrance. 

It led to a corridor and she followed it along, ignoring all the closed doors, until she came to one that stood slightly ajar. She pushed it open and stepped inside. 

A familiar figure stood at the balcony, facing away, but he stood up a little straighter when she closed the door behind her.

“So I was right,” she couldn’t help but say as she approached and he turned around. “You’re Chat Noir.”

There was something in saying it out loud and seeing the confirmation of it in the little quirk of his lips. She knew before, but now there was no denying it. Adrien Agreste  _ was _ Chat Noir. 

“I knew you would figure it out. You  _ are _ the best detective after all.”

Marinette moved forwards so she was standing in the moonlight as well. “You  _ wanted _ me to find out, didn’t you?”

“You tell me.”

“This whole thing was your father’s idea, wasn't it? You've just had to go along with it.”

“Well it hasn’t all been bad,” he grinned. “There's a certain thrill in breaking into your own house, I guess. Besides, I got to meet you, didn't I?” 

She stopped at that. “You’re the most amazing person I've ever met, Marinette,” he said so sincerely that it took her breath away. “You’re so smart, and determined and, well, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to steal one last thing. Something more precious than anything I've stolen before.”

She frowned. “I thought you said that none of your family treasures were important to you?”

“They're not. The treasure I'm talking about…” His voice lowered to a whisper as he leaned a little closer. “… is your heart,” he finished. 

A tiny giggle escaped her and she raised an eyebrow. “Please don’t tell me you wrote the last card like that just so you could use that line.”

“Maybe I did. Does it matter?” The two of them had unconsciously shifted even closer and their faces were only inches apart by then, but neither moved away. 

“ _ Yes _ . It was so corny,” she laughed but she kissed him anyway. 


End file.
